LEAVING SCHOOL

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 149, 21 December 1923, Page 7

LEAVING SCHOOL

WORK FOR BOYS

j CHOICE OF AN OCCUPATION I The right choice of an occupation lor boys leaving school is a problem which parents often find a difficulty in. solving. Following is the second article on this subject, furnished by the Directors of the Rotary Club:— ■In the article which appeared in yesterday's issue of "The Post" the problem of influencing a youth in the choice of an occupation was stated to be as pressing as it was difficult. Few parents lack good-wili towards . their children; and most very honestly try to do the best pdssibie for them, and to direct them into the best possible line of activity. But "the best possibje" occupation means many different things to different people. Broadly, it means that sphere of choice wherein the boy will have the best chance of using his talents; not only to-day but to-morrow also. . The task, of the parent is twofold; to judge as well as he may, in co-opera-tion with the teacher and the boy himself, what the boy's talents and ambitions are; and to discover what opportunities are at hand in the world outside. ' INITIAL EARNINGS.

Something is gained at the outset if we remember that one of the least 'important considerations is the size of the ihitial_ earnings to be gained in various occupations. It is not enough for our guidance to know what can be earned in a particular occupation by a beginner; we need to inquire also what can be earned by an adult and an expert. What, too 4 are the prospects ahead of an occupation? Will the trade flourish or will it stagnate or decline? Are the prfessions being absurdly overdone? Is it a trade or a profession for which the boy is really suited? If it isa trade, will it lead anywhere? These questions are riot matters of pufe speculation only. Some approximately correct answer can be given if we are urgent to follow the trend of general affairs. And it is clear that there are certain occupations strenuously to be avoided at the outset. DEAD-END OCCUPATIONS. First among the pernicious occupations are what are known as "blhid-alley 1' of "dead-end" occupations. They are appropriately named; alid the dead-end is not far from the entrance. It is- tragically easy to enter such Mind-alleys, but oiice in it is desperately hafd> to get out again. While the general rate of wages in these occupations is compara> tively low, it is an observable, malicious fact that a beginner's wage here is often considerably higher than that paid in worthier and ultimately more profitable pursuits. The reason is simple enough— these dead-end jobs call for little skill and experience, and the boy is, therefore) not far removed from the man in earning capacity. To say that a boy, here, can earn almost as much as a mali is, of course, to say that the mail call earn little more than the boy—a statement which, while seemingly the same, is'much more significant. .AH unskilled occupations are blind-alley occupations. / Their demand is stronger for brawn than for intelligence, and their reward richer in discontent than, pence. They mean the end of attainment and the atrophy of ability; they hiean heavy competition and low wages, and they involve insecurity of employment. It is riot true that in times of- trade depression the least efficient or least skilled workers are discharged first? The acquirement of skill of some sort, mental or manual; or both, is the best insurance any young -man can take ■ out for himself; and in our country there appears little reason why every boy should not come into the possession of a kriowhledge and equipment which wilLsave him from the precarious and unsatisfactory position of ah unskilled labourer. " , WRONG CHOICE. The dead-end may be reached, not immediately, but through a declining trade. Many a, goodly trade has flourished and died; and the progress of modern largescale industry with its attendant minute specialisation is hastening the end of much remaining craftsmanship. Look ahead! Is the trade going to be worth While in a few years' time from now? _ Declining trades, blind-alley occupations, unskilled, casual, seasonal occu-pations-^tliese are, the main -dangers to avoid. Add to these the danger of overlooking many ihfaht occupations which, in the logic of events, have a vigrinus future ahead of them; add, too, the S*-i determination of many parents to iuaKe lawyers out of craftsmen, and we then begin to perceive the source of bo iftuch national waste ef ability. 'It says much for the conception of filial duty' held -by many young men to-day that, while sighing for the smell of the good brown earth, they cleave to what is to them the uninspiring odour of parchment. , , We believe that much of the danger of wrong initial choice may be obviated if the boy is provided with the right educational equipment either before or after leaving school; and it is in the hope that some suggestions in this connection will be helpful that the next article will be written.